Footfall marginally rises in August driven by shopping centre traffic

New data from MRI Software has suggested that retail footfall in the UK remained resilient throughout August in the face of nationwide riots and the summer holiday period. The platform reported that footfall rose marginally among all retail destinations by 0.9 percent over the four weeks from July 28 to August 24, with shopping centres leading the charge as footfall rose 2.1 percent.

This was then followed by retail parks, which saw an uptick of 2 percent, yet contrasted the results for high streets, where activity declined 0.1 percent compared to the month prior. There was even more of a contrast when footfall was weighed up against monthly figures for last year. In this regard, retail park activity rose 3.3 percent, while both shopping centres and high streets saw a decline of 1.8 and 0.3 percent, respectively.

MRI said this aligned with the pre-pandemic trend of people taking vacations throughout August, reflecting a return to normalcy that has remained consistent throughout the year. Despite this, school summer holidays did have an impact at the beginning of the month, with the first two weeks reported seeing a footfall decline of 2.2 percent week-on-week. Riots and protests were also cited as possible reasons for the impact.

Figures bounced back later in the month, however, as warmer temperatures and music events brought people back to the high streets, particularly due to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which was attributed to a YoY 8 percent footfall spike in London in the final week of the month.

Looking ahead, MRI said that while the back-to-school rush could be another reason for upticks in the coming months, the greatest impact for retail destinations is likely to come from mandated return to offices which is expected to be enforced by UK businesses in September.